I refinished my Chinese B1 Sea Lion. It only took me a little over a year.

I used a 120 grit flap wheel to remove the brownish orange laquer that they had used to cover it with, and then sanded it the rest of the way with 180 grit to remove the sealing effects from it. Underneath was some decent grain and plenty of filler. I did notice that the wood they used will oxidize pretty quick; it would take on an orangish/red tint between sandings. It did have a really sharp white look when it was freshly sanded.

After stripping, I dug out my little woodburning kit, came up with a small design and went to town stippling the pistol grip and forestock. It came out pretty good in my opinion. A few small touch ups here and there and I got a real nice effect and decent texture.

Anyway, I looked around to see what I had laying about and came up with some Minwax Red Mahogany stain and a spray can of Minwax Polycrylic, which by the way, states that it shouldn't be used with the aforementioned stain. Something about it would take away the red tinting and turn it brownish.
I started off with 2 coats of stain with some real light sanding with 220 grit on some of the blotching that the wood is known for. I didn't take off all of it using what I left for highlighting. To get around the issues the poly coat was supposed to create, I sprayed two really, really light coats to set the coloring. After that, a medium coat with a little sanding to remove the high spots and smooth out the coat. I ended up doing 2 more medium coats and followed with 2 heavy coats and some steel wool. If I had a buffing wheel for the grinder, I could get it to really shine. But I'm happy with it as it stands.
Now for the pictures.....

I was shocked. Even the wood filler they used blended nicely. I really liked where the blotching happened. It kinda gives a nice highlight. I'm thinking of getting the other stock back from the neighbor and doing another one. I finally finished the sighting in on this one today. I'm getting an 1/8" to less hole with AA 10.3gr @ 7yds in 5 shot groups Now I just need to get started on the bell target..